A number of prize acquisition game apparatuses such as a crane gaming machine, designed for an acquisition by a player of a prize in a housing of the apparatus, are installed in game arcades as well as general stores and shopping malls because the operation itself of such a game apparatus is fun, and also because the chance to acquire a prize featuring a popular character increases a player's willingness to take on the challenge of the game. Conventionally, various prize acquisition game apparatuses have been suggested.
A game apparatus of this type includes a grabbing section which is movable to any position in horizontal and vertical directions within a game space surrounded by transparent plate or semi-spherical member, and which has openable and closable arms (grabbing claws) so that a player can grab one of the prizes disposed in the game space. In order to grab a prize, a player uses operation buttons on an operation panel of the game apparatus to move the grabbing section in a horizontal plane so that the grabbing section is aligned over a desired prize, to stop the grabbing section at that position, and to cause the grabbing section to be automatically lowered to grab the desired prize. Then, the player causes the desired prize to be automatically lifted to a predetermined height, and to be moved in the horizontal plane to a position just above a discharging port with the desired prize being held by a biasing force of the elastic body of the arms, and then the player opens the arms to release the prize so that the prize falls into the discharging port. In the discharging port, the prize falls to the bottom surface of a discharged prize receiving section at a lower part of the discharging port to be received there, and can be taken out of the discharged prize receiving section through a prize outlet, which ends one game (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-13756).